Washington, DC (September 2, 2005) – National and state bar associations are rallying to provide hurricane relief to an estimated 5,000 displaced Gulf Coast lawyers and their families, coordinating offers of housing, office space, equipment, and support services to help re-establish their practices and contact with their clients, firms and relatives. Attorneys and their families may not be able to return to their offices or homes for weeks, if ever. Despite their own personal difficulties, attorneys remain legally and ethically bound to continue to represent their clients. The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) therefore requests that you help the following organizations disseminate the following URLs and contact information.
American Bar Association (ABA):
http://www.abanet.org/katrina/
Association of Trial Lawyers of American (ATLA):
http://www.atla.org/sections/hurricane.aspx
Contact: assistance@atlahq.org
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL):
http://www.nacdl.org/relief
Contact: Alison Sterling, Katrina Disaster Relief Coordinator, alison@nacdl.org.
NACDL has made this section of its members-only Web site available to all in need or wishing to make donations. Non-members can gain access by entering Username katrinarelief and the Password help.
The NACDL Web site also has links to major disaster relief agencies and its primary state affiliate organizations in the affected areas: the Alabama Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Mississippi Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Contacts
NACDL Communications Department
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's many thousands of direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling up to 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal legal system.